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 | Douglas Cohen |
1998 Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theater Award recipient. As a composer/lyricist/librettist, Douglas was awarded two Richard Rodgers Development Grants from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters for No Way To Treat A Lady and The Gig, presented by Stephen Sondheim. Originally produced Off-Broadway at the Hudson Guild in 1987, No Way To Treat A Lady (based on the William Goldman novel) was revived Off-Broadway at the York Theatre in 1996 for and extended run where it was nominated for two Outer Critics Circle Awards including best revival
and was recorded by Varese Sarabande Records. In 1998, it was produced in London at the Arts Theatre starring Tony winner Donna McKechnie and Olivier winner Joanna Riding. Other regional productions include the Coconut Grove Playhouse, Signature Theatre, Barrington Stage, Boston's Lyric Stage, and productions in Italy and Germany.
The Gig, based on Frank D. Gilroy's movie, was produced at the Goodspeed Opera House, the American Stage Company, and the Sacramento Music Circus following successful workshops at the Manhattan Theatre Club and the O'Neill Music Theatre Center. Douglas has recently completed writing music and lyrics to an original musical, The Big Time, with a book by Douglas Carter Beane (author of the Off-Broadway hit As Bees In Honey Drown) for Off-Broadway's The Drama Dept. A showcase was presented in May 2000 directed by Mark Brokaw (How I Learned To Drive) in preparation for the world premiere production planned Off-Broadway. Children's Letters To God, a new musical based on the bestseller, had three readings at the York Theatre and premiered at Cape Cod's Harwich Junior Theatre and Dallas' Lyric Theatre this past December, with Douglas serving as lyricist. (Composer David Evan's and bookwriter Stuart Hample are his collaborators.) Douglas wrote the music for the musical, Glimmerglass, based on James Fennimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales which was produced at the Goodspeed Opera House in Chester in November 1999 and presented by the National Alliance of Musical Theatre. With a book by Jonathan Bolt and lyrics by Ted Drachman, Glimmerglass is scheduled to receive a reading in Spring, 2002 at the York Theatre.
Other musicals include, A Charles Dickens Christmas and Columbus for Theatreworks/USA (Promenade Theatre Off-Broadway) and God's Hand (production at TheatreWorks in California.) Two of his songs are featured on Varese Sarabande's CD, Broadway Bound. Douglas is a member of the BMI Engel Musical Theater Workshop, ASCAP, and the Dramatist Guild.
Upcoming works include, Valentino (book and lyrics) in which Douglas is collaborating with Fosse conceiver and co-choreographer Chet Walker and composer Howard Marren on the new musical. Last April, there was a private reading of the entire show. A demo starring Brian d'Arcy James has just been completed. Barnstormer (composer) collaborating with playwright Cheryl L. Davis on a musical based on the life of African American aviator, Bessie Coleman. A reading containing five songs was presented at E.S.T. last spring. Douglas is also collaborating with Tony nominee director/librettist Robert Jess Roth on a musical adaptation of a popular film.
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